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I've used printer paper for a year and used a fountain pen almost exclusively. Everywhere i go I hear that printer paper is bad and you shouldn't write with a fountain pen on it, but I've had pretty much no problem with it. I've only used Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue and Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black and I've heard they are dry inks, so maybe thats why I had no feathering, or any bleedthrough that's too bad. Also I've mostly used a Japanese medium nib. It was some 80gsm ink jet paper from Fabriano (it was Copy 3 I think) I got it because it was cheap, and it looks like it performs vastly better than cheap notebook paper. Why is printer paper frowned upon? Sounds like a good option for people on a budget.

Hey everyone! I recently recieved a sample of the ink mentioned in the topic title. As a leftie, I have high hopes for this ink, but as soon as I started writing with it in my pen(a fine nibbed Pilot Metropolitan), I noticed it bled through the paper of the notebook I was using! Has anyone else experienced this? My other question is should I give up in wanting to use this ink? Thanks for any help you can provide, Rosendust!

I have four Kaweco Sport fountain pens, three Classic Sports in M, B, and BB and an AL-Sport in medium. Recently I outfitted them all with Kaweco squeeze converters. Up until that point I had been refilling cartridges with a syringe. I found that once I started using the squeeze converters the pens started bleeding through every paper with every ink. They bled through Rhodia, Clairefontaine, and Maruman Mnemosyne papers I've used them on. I haven't been using bleed-prone inks with them either. Off the top of my head, I've used Waterman Serenity Blue, Parker Quink Blue, Noodler's Heart of Darkness, and other inks that I've had zero problem in the past with bleedthrough. This happens regardless whether I draw ink up through the feed or fill the converter directly with a syringe. Seeing this pattern since I started using squeeze converters, I started refilling cartridges again to fill the pen. Now I'm back to having no problem at all: back to my Kaweco Sports being on the slightly dry-ish side. I bought my converters from different sources so I don't believe it's a case where I had a bad batch. So I can only conclude that something about the squeeze converters affects the ink or the nib and feed in a way that causes bleeding with conservative inks on usually bleed resistant paper. Am I the only one having this problem? Is there anyone who could explain how this could happen?

Diamine Registrar's is my go-to ink for work, because it doesn't feather/bleeds through even the cheapest papier. It's quite expensive though, and I've bought some Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars, which is three times less expensive (factoring in shipping costs). After a workday of using both inks, the differences I've noticed : 1. The colour is virtually undistinguishable. 2. ESSRI is less dry than Diamine, so it's the ink of choice for drier pens. 3. ESSRI does feather slightly and does bleed through slightly, whereas Diamine almost never does. See the comparison here : Recto : http://i.imgur.com/gZ5LGby.jpg, Verso : http://i.imgur.com/3PWCJwE.jpg The first two lines are written with ESSRI, and the rest with Diamine.

I've recently become very interested in paper and pulp industries. My endless endeavours to finding the best FP paper really has taken me all over the globe. I've come to realise that the qualities that make a paper FP friendly, normally stem from the predominant use of hardwood pulps. When I initially came to learn, that some of the papers I very much preferred, sourced their pulp from Brazil, I became somewhat concerned. I didn't want to support any industry that was destroying the majestic Amazon rainforest. Later I learnt that this pulp was coming mostly from plantation Eucalyptus, which appeared to yield particularly well in Brazil on short 5-7 year cycles. The trouble with eucalyptus is that it isn't particularly frost tolerant, so has had limited use as a plantation crop in the USA. However that is about to change. Genetically engineered eucalyptus is here. A GM Eucalyptus that is frost hardy is about to have a very substantial field trial in the USA, and if successful, Eucalyptus pulp will become the most economical pulp manufactured in North America as well. Any thoughts? FP paper, or genetically engineered trees in general?

Tonight a friend came back from London. With her she had a bottle of Diamine ink and a small little teeny-weeny notebook from a brand I recognized; Smythson. Being a materialist, I squealed with glee and decided to try out the book, especially since I remembered hearing that the paper should be notebook-friendly. So far, it is definitely not. The paper is very thin, and I expected show-through, but not bleed-through. Even with my one of finest nibs (Lamy 2K EF) and one of my most well behaved inks (Lamy black) there was some bleed-through on the pages. I have looked at reviews online and they all seem positive, which I find strange. Have any of you had similar experiences with Smythson paper? Apparently they all use the same paper in all of their notebooks, so I am sure there's quite a few of you who has used them at very least. And ah, yes, I'm sorry if it seems like I'm simply ranting. I will admit that I am very disappointed with the notebook, but I am seriously curious what your experiences with the paper is like. Thank you for reading

Unfortunately, I don't own any Clairefontaine, Rhodia, or Apica paper to compare this relatively cheap paper to. - the "too long;didn't read" version of this review is towards the bottom of this post under "Summary" - I'm new to fountain pens and I recently discovered the ink+paper combination problem. I didn't see how bad feathering was on some copy and looseleaf filler papers until I started writing in this Smart Living 1 Subject Notebook. I finally understood and saw the qualities of FP friendly paper compared to non-FP friendly paper. The notebook paper extended dry times, resisted feathering so that medium nibs didn't lay down Sharpie marker-like lines, and allowed tiny pools of ink to dry into beautiful varied shades of color. The notebook cost me a mere $1.50 at my local Giant grocery store. On my most recent grocery run (a day ago from today) I picked up a couple 150 sheet packs of the Smart Living brand's filler paper for about $2 (0.99 per pack). Here is a picture for anyone interested in searching for this paper after reading this review: http://24.media.tumblr.com/11a30e18203536646a54510326c634dd/tumblr_mnlsrstyZO1r4c920o1_500.jpg I don't recommend the notebook if you're looking for sturdiness. The covers feel like floppy posterboard and the pages aren't securely bound. The pages began falling apart upon opening the notebook. This issue of securing pages together could probably be resolved by tying some string into the binder holes, or you could just stick the notebook in a binder. http://25.media.tumblr.com/8e9425955dd1c5ac5be3a0f4e98a4ec7/tumblr_mnlsrstyZO1r4c920o2_1280.jpg I removed a sheet of notebook paper for the writing sample. I torture-tested the paper's ability to resist bleedthrough with a THICK Sharpie marker and found little bleedthrough. The only negative trait of this paper is its ghosting, but the ghosting loses its noticeability after you write over both sides of the paper. note: there was a SLIGHT bit of feathering with the Conklin blue cartridge ink. What may appear to be feathering with the Monteverde ink is actually just bad handwriting due to a slightly shakey hand. http://25.media.tumblr.com/0536a98597f7669762dee6827ccc4b19/tumblr_mnlsrstyZO1r4c920o5_1280.jpg Backside of the notebook paper: http://25.media.tumblr.com/238878dbe0d4c67c5d9abca6efdd6d31/tumblr_mnlsrstyZO1r4c920o6_1280.jpg Like I mentioned earlier, the ghosting is prominent but bleedthrough isn't a problem whatsoever : ) The filler paper offered a completely different performance. The filler paper feels much thinner and flimsier. The surface of the paper is rough compared to the surprisingly smooth surface of the notebook paper. Ink didn't feather too much on this paper. Monteverde "Blue Black" (more like a blue-gray, I bought it for the grayish color) and Conklin blue had a little bit of feathering (hardly noticeable to me). Lexington gray and Monteverde Blue-Black managed a little bit of shading. http://25.media.tumblr.com/2cceaab5ab2daad75598255e8aafa70c/tumblr_mnlsrstyZO1r4c920o3_1280.jpg The one quality of this paper that may turn people from purchasing it is its bleedthrough problems. Backside of the filler paper: http://25.media.tumblr.com/4dbf66b0f3af2d4be9eecde90cf41396/tumblr_mnlsrstyZO1r4c920o4_1280.jpg I didn't bother with treating this paper to a Sharpie bleedthrough test. I think you can see why. This paper would probably bleed ink onto surfaces beneath it if extremely wet broad and flex nibs are used. But for the price of the paper? Sorry, I have to quote Macklemore here: "it was 99 cents!" ------ Summary: Smart Living 1 Subject Notebook 80 Sheets, $1.50 Smart Living Filler Paper Pack 150 Sheets, $0.99 Be on the lookout for the Smart Living Notebooks, the paper quality in the notebooks is different from the filler paper. I'm sure the notebook paper isn't on par with Rhodia and Clairefontaine paper, but you're getting a smooth surfaced feather and bleedthrough free paper for a dollar. The notebook's pages aren't securely bound, but that issue can be cheaply remedied by tying some string through the binder holes. (at least the pages are easy to remove for binder/notebook system filling if you don't want to put up with the whole notebook) ------- Look for the 150 sheet packs of Smart Living filler paper if you... usually write on one pageuse fine and medium nibsare okay with a slightly rough paper surfacedon't mind flimsy (compared to 32 lb copy paper) paper.